Tears at the Iron Window

West Blue, Kingdom of Aethi.

Inside the extremely lavish hall, slightly wealthy middle-aged men sat at the supper table, flanked by short men in straight striped suits debriefing the situation.

"Godfather, some time ago, in the nearby kingdom of Kaya, an abandoned passenger ship was found with all its occupants plundered by pirates and all dead."

"Bizarrely, the pirates also died on the ship. One with a smile on his face were thought by the local fishermen been attacked by a ghost ship."

"A ghost ship?" The middle-aged man sneered disdainfully, "Only an idiot would believe something!"

"According to my analysis, those pirates may have been killed by Apophis. It's all rumoured on the Grand Line that he has the power to drive out the evil spirits of hell, and can cause his enemies to die in desperate agony, or to die so peacefully and quietly that they don't even realize they're dying!"

"Are you in the West Blue so soon? That guy really can't wait to kill me!" The middle-aged man snorted coldly, clearly trusting in his subordinate's abilities.

"Godfather, I've set it up as you commanded, as soon as Apophis appears under our authority, there will be a steady stream of fire pouring down on him, and even if he's a monster made of steel, he'll turn into a pile of scrap metal in an instant!"

"Very well, Bege, see? That's where the power comes in, no matter how strong he is, he's just one man, how can he possibly fight against the millions of my men? Trying to kill me? And don't see if you have that ability!"

"The gap between the enemy and us is too wide, and he's dead!" The short man said without moving, "Except that our identification of Apophis is limited to his ghost mask, and in case he takes it off and sneaks in, I'm afraid..."

"There's no way an arrogant monster like Apophis would make an aggressive move to show weakness." The middle-aged man said hesitantly, "But you're right to be worried, it's foolish to put your hopes in the hands of the enemy, good thing I made an extra second-hand preparation, I think... they should be here soon too!"

"They?" The short man asked, confused, "What do you mean by them, godfather?"

"Who else could it be? Of course, it's the Happo Navy that I invited from the Kano Country. It's just a pity that their leader, Don Chinjao, has retired. Otherwise, that kind of pirate with a bounty of over half a billion dollars would truly be considered a monster from hell!"

"But it doesn't matter, the son of Don Chinjao, the future 13th generation pillar of the Happo Navy, Kanojao, has already agreed to my invitation."

(Since Oda-san didn't account for the son of Chinjao, here we choose Chinjao + Kano no Kuni = Kanojao to determine the name, so if you want to vomit, do it. (???? -)?)

"He's already mighty in his own right, and even if he's not a match, he has the great pirate Don Chinjao behind him, so is it possible that an Apophis would dare to risk offending that kind of great pirate and stay alive with me?"

"Kano Country's Happo Navy? A mighty help indeed."

"I thought I could use Apophis' power to kill this guy and then I'd take over his power, but unfortunately, the old man had lost the ferocity he had when he was a pirate, but did he still retain that caution?"

Capone Bege secretly disarmed the security in the castle inside him, "Since Apophis is bound to die, there's no need for me to deliberately leave passage to let him in, heh, just think of it as watching a sparkling fireworks ceremony."

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The lightning exploded, and the ground shook, even the foundation where Becky and Buffett were was cracked open in many narrow cracks due to the violent shaking.

"Well? What's going on here? Has Apophis already beaten in?" Buffett steadied himself in time, slightly panicked by the question.

See Buffett's frightened look, Bege's heart despises. This guy has long lost a decade ago that returned from the Grand Line when the bounty of over a hundred million pirates should have a soul, "Sure enough, the mafia and everything else is a child's playhouse game that can not become popular. Only the pirates and the sea is the man's right home!"

"Godfather, this should be our first line of defence. I've planted a dozen tons of explosives on his inevitable route, and when he thinks those besiegers are the full firepower, the power of those explosives will tear him to pieces!"

Bege's tone was cold, and the implication of his words was clear that he intended to kill even the mafia that had been placed in the first line of defence, but Buffett was thrilled, "Hahaha! Bege, you sure didn't disappoint me, but you planted all those explosives, and after blowing up that bastard, I can finally get some sleep!"

"I didn't think it would be this easy, but it seems that, as the godfather said, that Apophis is nothing more than an arrogant beast."

Puru, Puru, Puru.....

Capone Bege pulled out the Den Den Mushi with a slight frown, and the Den Den Mushi reflected the other man's horrified expression on his face in quite passing.

"The two leaders, dead, everyone's dead!"

Capone Bege tugged at the corners of his mouth and was about to say, "I'm not dead," but on second thought abandoned the silly move, "Apophis is dead too?"

"No, he's not dead!" The voice from Den Den Mushi was still shaking.

"What did you say? With a blast range of one kilometre across and a blast duration of half a minute, how could he have survived? Or did you losers do it without even waiting for him to enter the bombing ring?" Capone Bege said in an ill-tempered tone.

"No, all of us watched him walk in, and it took the lives of thousands of our brothers to bring him in!"

"But...everyone died, and he survived...that man is simply a monster!" The voice from Den Den Mushi was very distraught as if there was no life in it and then ranted sharply and hysterically, "All of us will die, all of us will die, against that devil out of hell, whether it's me, you, or the godfather, all will die, all will die... "

Ka-ching!

Capone Bege grimly looked as he gripped Den Den Mushi and communication settings with such force that Den Den Mushi and communication settings were crushed and disgusting fluids splattered everywhere.

"Just kidding, right? Thousands of people surrounded by firepower, enough explosives to blow up a street, and still he survives, is he not human?" Buffett said in a haunted voice, clearly frightened by the stern, dreadful curse of Den Den Mushi.

"Godfather, that fellow has gone mad, we don't need to listen to a madman." Despite his despise, Capone Bege maintained a respectful presence.

"You're right, that guy has gone crazy!" Buffett emphasized as if to cheer himself up, then looked to his side with hopeful eyes, "Bege, if there's the first line of defence, that means there's a second line of defence, right?"

"Of course, this second line of defence is a gas bomb I bought on the black market, and if you inhale a little bit of it, there's no chance of even a large sea king type being alive!"

"Hahaha! Bege, you sure are reliable and worthy of..." the Buffett's laughter stopped in mid-sentence as he had seen out of the corner of his eye the shadow of death standing in the doorway.

"Are you kidding me? My carefully laid outline of defence didn't even buy three minutes, or...did he even comes in like a walk?" At the sight of Apophis's scarlet and bloodshot gaze, Capone Bege's heartbeat violently and furiously, and sweat leaked from his forehead.

"Bege, come on... bring out your third line of defence!"

"Yes! And now we can only activate the third line of defence!" Capone Bege glumly stepped back, pressed the remote in his hand, and a steel and iron fence fell, separating him from Buffett instantly.

"This...this?"

"My beloved Godfather, don't you understand? This third line of defence... is you!"

Buffett gripped the bars and wept tears of remorse as he looked at Capone Bege, who was so close to him, and Apophis, who was closing in behind him!

Published in Qidian, March 06 2019